Romans 7:14-20 “Me”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹⁴For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, one sold under the sin, ¹⁵for I am not knowing what I am doing, for I am not practicing what I am desiring but what I am hating, this I am doing. ¹⁶But if I am doing this, what I am not desiring, I am agreeing with the law that [it is] good. ¹⁷But now I am no longer doing this but the sin dwelling in me. ¹⁸For I know that there is dwelling not good in me, that is, in my flesh, for to desire is being present with me, but to do the good [is] not. ¹⁹For I am not doing the good which I desire, but I am practicing this, [the] evil which I am not desiring. ²⁰But, if I am not doing that which I am desiring, I am no longer doing it but the sin dwelling in me.

I started the last blog stating that vv.7-13 are “an extended explanation of what Paul says in Gal. 3:24, that the law is a ‘schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.’” Now what I see in vv.14-20 is an extended explanation of Gal. 5:17, “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other…” I am very thankful I studied the book of Galatians, as it really helped me, in a nutshell so to speak, to understand the very issues Paul addresses here in Romans 7. It is nice, then to see it all explained “beyond” the nutshell!

Several things I think need to be said up front. First of all, there has down through the centuries been endless “scholarly debate” about exactly who is in view here. People ask whether Paul is describing himself as an unsaved man or perhaps as one of those “unspiritual” Christians, or if he’s actually describing the experience of a real, born-again Christian. I too could enter into the debate, but let me just say this: I do not understand how any genuinely born-again Christian can read this passage and not see their own face in the mirror. What Paul is describing is exactly the battle I face every day and, in fact, the same battle you see throughout the entire New Testament. What is the import of basically every single book of the New Testament? Is it not, here are the things God desires you to do and to be, and here are the things He desires you not to do and not to be? Where does that leave us? With the struggle to see it happen, with “the flesh  and the Spirit in conflict with one another,” just as described more succinctly in Galatians. I frankly cannot believe saved people even debate the matter. The face in the mirror may be ugly, but I cannot deny it is mine! And what I see in the New Testament is that is the exact face being addressed on every page.

The second thing I want to say is that I don’t think this spirit/flesh thing is that difficult either. When the Bible refers to “the flesh,” it is referring to the Adamic me. In other words, it is the natural me, the one that was born in 1957. I was born entirely a descendant of Adam and bearing his likeness as a fallen man. That contamination ruined both my body (which was born dying) and my natural spirit which knows not God and loves evil. When the Lord saved me, He sent His Holy Spirit to actually dwell in me. The old “me” is still quite present. I still live in the same Adamic body I was born with and it still contaminates my spirit, so that my heart is desperately wicked. That is all summed up in the name “my flesh.” The Holy Spirit’s presence now means there are two “spirits” within me, the one still driven by evil desires, and the other always calling me to holiness, to desire the good things the Lord intends for us.

This leads to my third assertion. At this point, I’ll probably be labelled a complete heretic or totally nuts, but I think the Bible is clear on the point, whether it is easy to understand or not and whether it is what anyone else supports. The question comes down to this matter of “me.”  Read the verses again and it clearly seems there are two “I’s” present. “I” desire to do good, but “I” do instead what I hate. I want to suggest this bi-polar Jekyll/Hyde problem is explained in vv.17 and 20: “But now I am no longer doing this but the sin dwelling in me...I am no longer doing it but the sin dwelling in me.”

Here's the deal. Sin is like a wart on your nose. Is the wart part of you? Obviously yes. If anyone doubts it, slice it off with your pocket knife and it will definitely be you bleeding. But is it really a part of you? No. A wart is a virus. It is something which has invaded “you.” It is not a part of who you really are. It should not be there. Even if you are covered with warts, when you wake up in Heaven, will you still have them? Of course not. But will you still be you? Obviously yes. So, do you see there is a “you” where warts don’t belong?

What Paul is saying is it is the same way with this sin problem. “I am no longer doing it but the sin dwelling in me.” Sin is a virus. It is an infection. It is an invasion of something into you, something not you that has found its way into you. Once it’s there, then, yes, it is quite you. Like the wart, if I’ve contracted a stomach flu, it is definitely me that is sick. It is me that is vomiting. But it’s not really me. In the same way, sin does not belong in me. When I wake up in Heaven, will I still be a sinner? No. As the old hymn said, “This robe of flesh I’ll drop and rise, to gain the everlasting prize…” So I will no longer be a sinner, but I will still be me, right? Can we see it is true that the real me, the eternal me, the me that “agrees the law is good,” the me that “desires to do the good” and “hates to do the wrong”—that “me” is quite real.

Just like the wart or the stomach flu, sin has become a part of me. Now, I need to inject here that when I sin, it is, in fact, “me” doing it and the guilt is mine. Note, although Paul can say, “I am no longer doing it but the sin dwelling in me,” yet he also says, “I am practicing this, [the] evil which I am not desiring.” Once again, the “I” is doing it. My point here is that nothing I’m saying absolves us from the guilt of the sins we commit, nor does any of this absolve me from the guilt of being a sinner by very nature.

And yet, sin is still not me. Can I suggest this truth is actually very liberating? It affects how I see myself but it also affects how I see others. I believe this is precisely how Jesus could love even prostitutes and “sinners.” As He looked at them, He saw the real person. He knew that sin was a virus that had infected them. In a sense, the prostitute’s problem was no different than the leper’s. In both cases, something from the outside had found it’s way into them, so it was very much them, and yet, still it wasn’t them. The problem was something Jesus could take away from them. When He did, they were still them, yet the infection was gone. The question then becomes, “Can you and I do the same?”

Can you and I look at the worst of “sinners,” and see that the warts of sin do not belong there? Can we see that there is a person there who should not have warts? Can we see they are a person who can exist without the warts, a person who is not a sinner? That “I” without sin is just as present in them as it is in you and me.

If I can belabor the point, can I circle back to the “me?” If I will allow my eyes to see the “real” person in others, can I allow my eyes to see the real “me” as well?  It is true of me too. Sin is a virus. It does not belong in me. It is an infection, an invasion, a perversion of who I really am. What Jesus is doing day by day (what we call sanctification) is actually stripping away that which is not really me! He is redeeming the real me! His Spirit is enabling me to become who I really am and He will continue that work until He completes it. Then I will be me, but what here on earth we have called my flesh—the contaminated Adamic me—will be gone forever! Then I get to spend eternity really being me!

Paul’s point in Romans 7 is to shoot down the idea that somehow “law-keeping” is the solution. I’m running ahead now, but in the next few verses, he will continue to bemoan this bi-polar “me” problem and finally exclaim, “Who shall deliver me from this body of death?” The answer is not law. It is grace.

I’ll try to pull that all together, but for now I just want to leave all of this with the liberating thought of seeing that sin is not our ultimate reality. It was and is a contamination of who we really are. Even as I readily own the guilt of my sins and even my sinfulness, may I also enjoy the liberty of seeing it’s not really me!